Ready-made cravat



April 21, 1964 J, E. COSGROVE READY-MADE CRAVAT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledSept. 11, 1961 JOHN E. cosaRova INVEXVTOR.

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ORIVEY April 21, 1964 J. E. COSGROVE READY-MADE CRAVAT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Sept. 11, 1961 JOHN E 6 05 GROVE IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent 3,129,433 READY-MADE CRAVAT John E. Cosgrove,Union, N.J., assignor to Foam Products, Inc., Newark, N..l., acorporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 137,201 1Claim. (Cl. 2150) This invention relates to pre-formed, or ready-madecravats.

Ready-made cravats of the four-in hand class, as presently available,comprise a length of material formed into a slip knot centrally disposedrelative to two, overlapping ends of the material. Secured to the knotare metal, plastic, or etc., clips, by means of which the cravat isattached to the shirt collar. Cravats of this class are designed tofacilitate the attachment thereof to the collar and the more or lesspermanent character the knot eliminates objectionable wrinkling of thematerial thereby obviating the need for frequent ironing, as is the casewith conventional cravats.

A cravat made in accordance with this invention offers simplicity andease of manufacture, provides a substantial saving of material and is oflight weight and pleasing appearance. The cravat includes a length ofmaterial, in ribbon form, by means of which the cravat is attached to ashirt and which frictionally retains the cravat in proper position. Thenovel formation of the knot makes it possible to provide a cravat havinga knot which presents various color combinations and novel effects.

An object of this invention is the provision of a readymade cravatpresenting a novel and pleasing appearance.

An object of this invention is the provision of a readymade cravatformed of a single length of material with a simulated knot formed atone end of the material.

An object of this invention is the provision of a readymade cravatcomprising a simulated knot formed of a plurality of materials havingdifferent colors, weaves, designs, etc., whereby the knot presents astrikingly contrasting appearance with respect to the material formingthe body of the cravat.

An object of this invention is the provision of a readymade cravathaving a simulated knot formed at one end of a length of material, and aribbon of material substantially centrally affixed to the knot, saidribbon of material serving as the means for attachment of the cravatunder a shirt collar or the like.

An object of this invention is the provision of a readymade cravatwherein the knot is formed of a plurality of pieces of material disposedin overlapping relationship.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description when taken with the accompanyingdrawings. It will be understood, however, that the drawings are forpurposes of illustration and are not to be construed as defining thescope or limits of the invention, reference being had for the latterpurpose to the claim appended hereto.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote like parts inthe several views:

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view of a piece of material from which a cravatis to be made in accordance with this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a similar view of the ribbon which forms the neck piece ofthe cravat;

FIGURE 3 is a similar view of the insert piece used for the formation ofthe knot;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary isometric view drawn to an enlarged scale andshowing the first step in the process of making the knot;

' FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary isometric view showing the insert piece inposition prior to formation of the simulated knot;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary rear view of the cravat showing the completeknot;

FIGURE 7 is a front view thereof;

FIGURE 8 is a side view thereof;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary side view illustrating the arrangement of aplurality of pieces of material for the formation of the knot inaccordance with another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary front view of the completed cravat made inaccordance with the FIGURE 9 assembly;

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary front view showing a modification of thearrangement shown in FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is a fragmentary side view showing the arrangement of twopieces of material for the formation of a cravat in accordance withstill another embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary side view of the completed cravat made inaccordance with FIGURE 12; and

FIGURE 14 is a front view thereof.

Reference is first made to FIGURES l-3 of the drawings. The numeral 10identifies a substantially rectangular strip of material to be used formaking the cravat. Such material may be cotton, silk, or other textilematerial and preferably is foamed urethane of suitable thickness, colorand density. The numeral 11 identifies the thin strip, or ribbon, ofmaterial which forms a neck piece which is adapted for inserting under ashirt collar, thereby to retain the cravat in proper wearing position.The neck piece may also be made of any suitable material, but I preferto make it of foamed urethane about A thick and wide. The foamedurethane material has a high coefiicient of friction thereby preventinga loosening or twisting of the cravat when once positioned in place bythe wearer. However, it is pointed out that the length of the neck pieceis such that it substantially encircles the neck of the averageindividual. Thus, in the case of foamed urethane, the neck piece can bemade relatively shorter, whereas in the case of a cotton neck piece thelength would be relatively longer. The insert piece 12, FIGURE 3, alsopreferably is made of foamed urethane or other low density compressiblematerial, and is of generally triangular cross section for reasons whichwill be explained in detail hereinbelow. Such insert piece provides thenecessary body and resiliency to facilitate the formation of the knotwhile, at the same time, serving to form a knot of a shape whichsimulates the conventional four-in-hand knot and to retain the knot insuch configuration permanently.

In making the cravat, one end of the body material 10 first is foldedover upon itself and over the central portion of the neck piece 11, asshown in FIGURE 4. The axial length of the folded-over, front portion 13depends upon the length desired in the completed knot. The insert piece12 is then placed into position against the body material 10, as shownin FIGURE 5. The parts conveniently can be held in this relativeassembled position by hand. Alternatively, a spot of cement may beapplied either to the base of the insert piece 12 or to the body 10 inorder to retain the insert piece in position during the actual formationof the knot. The latter operation merely involves folding back the sideedges of the folded-over material in a direction away from the frontportion 13 (in the direction of the arrows) into abutting engagementalong a plane substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of thematerial 10. The width of the insert piece is less than that of thematerial 10 and the cross sectional area of the insert piece is suchthat it preferably must be compressed to effect an abutting engagementof the folded-over back side edges of the material, as shown at thepoint identified by the arrow A in FIGURE 6. These abutting portions ofthe side edges of the material and the folded-over front portion 13, areheld in this relative position and are secured together by a staple 14.Alternatively, these parts may be secured together, at this point, bycement, by sewing with a conventional thread or, in the case of foamedurethane material, by sonic sewing.

It may here be emphasized that FIGURE 6 shows the rear of the knot afterthe staple has been applied and the finger pressure removed. Because ofthe resilient character of the insert piece 12, the more or lessunconfined upper portion thereof expands substantially to its originalsize and form whereas that part which is disposed in the region of thestaple remains compressed. Further, it will be noted that the staple isapplied at a point spaced somewhat from the lower end of the insertpiece, such lower end being identified by the numeral for purposes ofdescription. In consequence, the lower portion of the insert piece alsoexpands partially, thereby providing a slight, forward bulge, to thecravat immediately below the knot, which corresponds closely to thesimilar effect which obtains in the case of the conventional, hand tiedknot. Further, it will be apparent that the compression of the insertpiece varies progressively from a maximum at the staple to a minimum atthe upper end. In consequence, the folded material defining the top edgeof the knot is slightly, but nicely, curved and such curve merges intotwo side curves which, in turn, merge into the generally cylindricalportion at the staple. FIGURES 7 and 8 are, respectively, front and sideviews of the completed cravat. These figures clearly show the slightcurve 16 defining the upper edge of the knot, the side curves 17 whichmerge into the cylindrical portion 18 and the slight forward bulge 19immediately below the knot. In short, the described method of making apre-formed cravat results in an article which is easy to put on andwhich is of a pleasing appearance. One advantage of making the articleout of foamed urethane materials lies in the fact that the cravat iswrinkle-proof, lightweight and washable. Such cravat can be rolled upand carried in the pocket for use as desired. Further, it will be notedthat the body of the cravat comprises a single length of material ascompared to the overlying two lengths commonly found in pre-formedcravats made heretofore.

The described method of making a preformed cravat lends itself to themaking of cravats having the knot portion of various color combinationsor novel designs. One such combination is shown in FIGURES 9 and 10.Here, the main body piece 10 may be of a first color, with the end 13folded over (as in the FIGURE 4 showing) and with the central portion ofthe neck piece 11 disposed within the fold. A first short piece ofmaterial 20, of a second color, and a second short piece of material 21,of a third color, are positioned as shown. The insert piece 12 is thenplaced into position, it being noted that the insert piece extendssomewhat below the lower edge of the end 13. The sides of the assemblyare then folded over the insert piece and stapled together, as has beendescribed above. The result is a multi-color band efiect, as shown inFIGURE 10, immediately below the knot, with the front of the knot properbeing a continuation of the body material 10.

By utilizing only one separate piece of material, in addition to thebody material (rather than the two pieces 20, 21 shown in FIGURE 9), asingle, different-colored band is provided immediately below the knot.The extent to which the different-colored band extends below the knotdepends upon the extent to which the separate material piece protrudesbeyond the end of the foldedover portion of the body material. After theknot has been formed, the extending portion of the separate piece can becut to a desired contour, as, for example, the triangmlar portion 21shown in FIGURE 11, thereby providing an added novelty efiect.

Reference now is made to FIGURE 12, wherein there is shown the main bodymaterial 10 having an end folded over the neck piece 11. A separatepiece of material 22,

of a color or texture different from that of the body material, is thenfolded oventhe folded-over end of the body material. The insert piece 12is then cemented or held in position while the side edges of thefolded-over assembly are brought over the apex of the insert piece andstapled, or otherwise secured together. This results in the formation ofthe knot, as already described, and as shown in FIGURES 13 and 14. Theextra piece 22 is disposed beneath the body piece and extends aconsiderable distance below the knot. In such arrangement, anappropriate opening 23 is cut in the main material, either initially orafter the knot has been formed. Such opening provides a window throughwhich is visible the different colored or different textured underlyingmaterial.

Having now described my invention, various changes and modificationswill become apparent to those skilled in this art. Although, in general,it is preferable to have all of the material pieces going into themaking of a given cravat of the same width, it will be apparent thatvarious novelty effects can be produced by making the main body materialof a width somewhat different from that of the additional pieces ofmaterial as used in the FIGURES 9-14 embodiments of the invention,thereby resulting in border effects emphasized by the differences incolor, weave and/ or design of the various materials. Also, while Iprefer to use an insert piece of substantially triangular cross section,insert pieces of square or rectangular cross section can be used withoutin any way changing the overall appearance of the knot. The triangularsection insert piece more completely fills the upper, rear portion ofthe completed knot and, therefore, provides a better, more finishedappearance to the cravat as a whole. In fact, the insert piece may beomitted, in which case the formed knot has a reduced factor of rigiditywhen the knot is formed of only two layers of material, as in theFIGURES l-8 embodiments of the invention. However, in the case of thernulti-layer knots, as shown in the FIGURES 9-14 embodiments of theinvention, the omisison of the compressible insert piece does notmaterially effect the character of the completed knot. These and otherchanges and modifications can be made without departing from the scopeand spirit of the invention as recited in the following claim.

I claim:

A ready-made cravat comprising,

(a) an elongated neck piece,

(b) a substantially rectangular piece of material having an end foldedover the neck piece and upon itself to form a double layer of thematerial, the folded over portion constituting a front piece ofrelatively short axial length,

(c) a solid, elongated insert piece of compressible material positionedagainst the rear surface of the material, said insert piece beingcoaxial of and substantially coextensive with the said front piece, and

(d) means securing together side portions of the front piece andcorresponding side portions of the underlying layer of material at aregion proximate to the end of the front piece, the said side portionsbeing folded back to encircle and radially compress the lower portion ofthe insert piece, thereby forming a substantially cylindrical portionhaving a lower end defined by the end of the front piece and an upperend which flares outwardly toward the neck piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS373,933 Henschel Nov. 29, 1887 1,847,294 Collett Mar. 1, 1932 2,427,468Maxwell Sept. 16, 1947 2,616,088 Sharkey Nov. 4, 1952 3,030,631 TobiasApr. 24, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 555,614 Belgium Feb. 12, 1960 748,465Great Britain May 2, 1957

